Watch this session on ECR Live: Saturday, March 8, 16:00–17:30, Room B
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At each ECR Since 2007, the ‘ESR meets’ programme has included a partner discipline along with the three guest countries, as a way to build formal bridges between the European Society of Radiology (ESR) and other branches of medicine, and to give congress participants an opportunity to learn about something a little different. At ECR 2014, the programme includes a visit from undoubtedly the largest medical discipline to take part in the initiative so far: cardiology, represented by one of the biggest medical societies in Europe, the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). Cardiology has much in common with radiology, but this is the first time that the two European societies have come together for an official joint session at a major meeting.

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Dear Colleagues, Dear Friends,

It is now just a few weeks until ECR 2014. As congress president, I am very much looking forward to welcoming you to this meeting, which will take place on March 6-10 in Vienna, Austria. Every ECR that I have attended has been a unique and unforgettable event and I am absolutely sure that ECR 2014 is going to continue this brilliant chain of outstanding meetings. I am also very proud that ECR 2014 is a jubilee meeting – it is the 20th congress in the modern history of the event, counting from the pivotal year of 1991 when it was completely re-designed and held for the first time in Vienna.

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At each ECR since 2008, the ‘ESR meets’ programme has included a partner discipline along with the three guest countries, as a way to build formal bridges between the European Society of Radiology (ESR) and other branches of medicine, and to give congress participants an opportunity to learn about something a little different. At ECR 2014 the programme includes a visit from undoubtedly the largest medical discipline to take part in the initiative so far: cardiology, represented by one of the biggest medical societies in Europe, the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). Cardiology has much in common with radiology, but this is the first time that the two European societies have come together for an official joint session at a major meeting.

Despite some well-known points of controversy between the two disciplines, concerning professional ‘turf’, the overriding message during this afternoon’s ‘ESR meets ESC’ session will be one of cooperation and mutual understanding. Prof. Panos Vardas, president of the European Society of Cardiology, who will co-preside at the session, believes that the blurring of borders between subspecialties makes this kind of exchange of knowledge a must.

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As every year, the ESR presidency changed hands at the European Congress of Radiology in March, with the new president, Prof. Guy Frija, from Paris, taking the reins from Prof. Gabriel P. Krestin. At the same time, the ECR 2014 Congress President, Prof. Valentin E. Sinitsyn, from Moscow, took over from Prof. José I. Bilbao as chairman of the Congress Committee.

In addition to these regular changes, a number of other positions on the Executive Council have been filled by new faces. First, Prof. Bernd Hamm, from Berlin, has moved up the chain into Prof. Sinitsyn’s position as 1st Vice-Chairperson of the Congress Committee, with Prof. Katrine Åhlström Riklund, from Umea, Sweden, elected to the role of 2nd Vice-Chairperson.
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ECR Today spoke with the next ECR president, Prof. Valentin Sinitsyn. He is chief of the radiology department at the Federal Centre of Medicine and Rehabilitation in Moscow, Russia, and currently serves as president of the European Society of Cardiac Radiology (ESCR).

ECRT: What will be the main highlights of ECR 2014’s scientific programme?

Valentin Sinitsyn: Prepare for more interactivity. People are increasingly interested in interactive sessions to assess what they have learned from a lecture. The ECR has been developing interactive sessions for several years now, but we want to increase that. Today, you can find a lot of information on the internet and many people might not think it is necessary to travel to a congress. We want to create something attractive and show that it is worth coming here. Nothing can replace shaking hands with your colleagues from other countries. I would be very sad if the ECR were entirely online. This is why we are making live meetings more interactive.

ECR 2014 Congress President Valentin Sinitsyn, from Moscow, Russia.

We would also like to change the format of scientific sessions. Our lectures have the same format they had one or two hundred years ago: a stage and an auditorium. We are currently discussing the concept of a multimedia classroom, a model which was successfully introduced during the last SIRM congress in June 2012. This multimedia classroom offered 60 work stations from different companies with 25 different cases which were discussed at the end. We are currently discussing the structure with Professor E. Neri from Pisa, who was responsible for the scientific programme of that project.

Soon we are going to use smart phones for voting during audience response sessions. But wireless technology has its limits and sometimes networks crash, so it needs a lot of work. Keypads are an old technology but they are very reliable. I am sure that next year, or the year after that, everybody will be able to vote with their own iPads or tablets.

We will also increase the number of multidisciplinary sessions. This is not something we have to do just during the ECR. This year we had the Imaging Biomarker’s Course the day before the congress, which was organised by the European School of Radiology. This will take place again next year with radiation oncology as the topic.

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